Fans and Neville dismayed by United approach

Manchester United fans and Gary Neville have said they are disappointed with the way the club has handled the sacking of David Moyes.

Fans and Neville dismayed by United approach

Manchester United fans and Gary Neville have said they are disappointed with the way the club has handled the sacking of David Moyes.

The Scot was dismissed today after nearly 10 months in charge at Old Trafford which have seen the club go from being Barclays Premier League champions to failing to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Reports of Moyes’ imminent departure emerged yesterday afternoon and Neville was sad that the Scot’s exit proved to be an undignified one.

“The last 15, 16 hours or however long it’s been, I don’t like it, it’s not the way in which the club should portray itself,” the former right-back, who won eight Premier League titles with United, told Sky Sports News.

“But it’s the modern world, it’s how things seem to be dealt with now, but I’m a traditionalist and I think it could have been dealt with a whole lot better.

“I believe in managers being given time, I think they should be allowed to complete their work. The idea of giving people three and four and six-year contracts and then getting rid of them after 10 months is something that’s foreign to me.

“However, there’s no disguising that the football this season has been poor, the results have been poor, as a fan I’ve not enjoyed watching it – I’m sure David Moyes himself hasn’t enjoyed watching it.

“And I can’t think many Manchester United fans will have enjoyed watching it either.

“The performances have sort of got worse and worse. There was a little bit of a pick-up before Christmas when you thought there might be a bit of a run but in the last month or two the performances have sort of deteriorated really.”

He added: “The players have to take massive responsibility.

“I never once during my 17/18-year career at United turned around after a game and thought ’you lost us that game boss’.

“It’s always the players. Players have to take responsibility, accountability in football.

“Those players there are not as bad as they have been showing, I’ve played with a lot of those players

“They’ve got great care for United, they love the club – the ones that I know - they’re desperate to do well for the club and they have completely lost confidence.

“These are players who were champions nine months ago and the decline has been surprising to say the least.”

One of the players in the dressing room Neville knows best is Ryan Giggs and the Welshman will now take charge of United until the end of the season.

Moyes’ predecessor Sir Alex Ferguson spent nearly 27 years in charge at United and brought both Giggs and Neville into the team after initially struggling to make an impact at Old Trafford.

Neville played with Giggs throughout his entire career at United under the Scot and the England coach believes his former team-mate is entering the lion’s den, with management now being a largely thankless task.

“It’s a different world to the one it was in the 1980s when (Dave) Sexton, (Ron) Atkinson and Sir Alex Ferguson were given time through their difficult moments,” he said.

“That’s just not going to happen any more. It’s something that I don’t like about the modern game, the fact that managers get sacked every 12 months. It doesn’t matter whether it’s my club, it’s United, or any other club.

“I genuinely believe there is a lack of decency now in the way in which football managers get dealt with at all the different clubs.

“They’re just so much in the firing line and they accept it’s a pressurised job, they get well paid for it, but I think there is a way of decency with dealing with people.

“Football managers now just get tossed around, chucked about, disregarded, rubbished. Decent men, good men just get thrown away and that’s not just David Moyes, that’s all the way through football.”

Dwight Yorke also played in the treble-winning team of 1999 and the former striker believes Giggs could be just the man to take the job permanently.

“I know there’s a lot of people speculating that they need somebody with big experience out there that has managed a club at the very top level but we are talking about a continuity, something like what Sir Alex Ferguson did,” he said.

“There is never going to be someone like Sir Alex Ferguson but what we’re given here is a young manager who is looking to break in.

“He’s not got the managerial skills but we thought that David Moyes had those skills of going into Manchester United with the experience that he had for 11 years being at Everton and the wonderful job that he’d done but he hasn’t been able to turn things over at Manchester United.

“I think for togetherness and getting the results and playing a certain way, a brand of football that is more eye-catching, the Man United way, I feel that Ryan Giggs is the right person.”

Manchester United fans have accused the club of turning themselves into a laughing stock.

Although many fans wanted Moyes out after such a woeful season, the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) believes it was wrong for the story to leak nearly 24 hours before an official announcement was made.

“It’s a PR shambles,” said MUST vice-chair Sean Bones.

“Manchester United’s history shows they deal with things with class and dignity but that has not been the case here.

“The story leaked before David Moyes has been spoken to, and that’s not the Manchester United way. There was no dignity or class in the way they went about it.”

Although United fans never called for Moyes’ head during games, it was clear that support for the manager was eroding with each of the 11 league defeats suffered by the club this term.

It was therefore no surprise that many chose to hail the news of his sacking when it was announced on the club’s official Twitter feed.

Bones feels appointing Moyes was always going to be a gamble considering that the Scot’s only previous experience came managing Everton and Preston.

“The appointment of David Moyes was seen by a lot of supporters as a risk,” he said.

“Moyes wasn’t proven at the very highest level, and Manchester United should be attracting the best and most proven managers in the world.”

Speculation has already begun about who United want as a long-term successor to Moyes.

Most fans appear to want Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp, although he is not thought to be high on United’s wanted list.

Whoever succeeds Moyes, Bones fears for the future of the club while the Glazer family are in charge.

“The problems lie a lot deeper than David Moyes,” he said.

“They lie with the Glazers and how they run the club.”

more courts articles

Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van
Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman
Coronation Street actor William Roache (91) given three months to settle tax debt Coronation Street actor William Roache (91) given three months to settle tax debt

More in this section

Forest ‘extremely disappointed’ by four-point Premier League deduction Forest ‘extremely disappointed’ by four-point Premier League deduction
Republic of Ireland v New Zealand - International Friendly FAI close in on men’s sponsor with Sky expansion link
Republic of Ireland Training Session O'Shea and Kerr get to work as new Ireland era begins
Sport Push Notifications

By clicking on 'Sign Up' you will be the first to know about our latest and best sporting content on this browser.

Sign Up
Sport
Newsletter

Latest news from the world of sport, along with the best in opinion from our outstanding team of sports writers

Sign up
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited